It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and everything changed. Now, it’s becoming more and more difficult to tell blogs and websites apart. Not so much in terms of what the sites are being used for, but in terms of website design and also being able to tell what type of web application is actually powering the site.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS tool like WordPress and other website-building software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things that the majority of website owners care most about, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain the website up-to-date, managing content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the options below would you choose?
A) An eye-catching, professional-looking website that is expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of getting site ”A” above built.
If you selected site “B”, then you need to know more about WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an eye-catching website that will usually end up costing you far less to build than websites built using web-building software … and how to tell these two types apart!
WordPress is the world’s most used online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use CMS suitable for most types of business applications.
Whether your reason for having an online presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a newbie with no knowledge of HTML to use and manage, yet it offers a range of helpful add-ons that make your website highly effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor interaction, generating business leads and sales, scalability, etc.
With almost one in every five websites around the world currently being powered by WordPress, chances are that if you already own a website, your site is also driven by the WordPress CMS.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are considering getting a website built, then wouldn’t it be great to show your web developer an existing website with the design and layout that you like, know that it was built with WordPress and that you can, therefore, get a similar site built for your business for a much smaller cost?
Is Your Web Site Built With WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page because you’ve read about all of the great benefits and advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using WordPress, or some other content management system.
Also, have you ever looked at a competitor’s website and wondered what they’re doing to try and get better results online?
Knowing if your competitor’s site is built with WordPress can tell you a few things about their strategies and methods, such as what themes or plugins they are using.
Here are a number of ways to tell if a web site is powered by WordPress:
Look At Your Page Source Code
If you know how to access the source code of a web page (e.g. Firefox Menu > Web Developer > Page Source if using Firefox, or Google Menu > More Tools > View Source if using Google Chrome), you can look for obvious telltale footprints …
(View your web page source code using the Firefox browser)
Suppose that you are surfing the web and you visit a site that you like, and you’re wondering if the site runs on WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
After the source code of the site loads on your screen, you can search for words like “wp-content” either by scanning the code with your eyes …
Or using your browser’s “Find” function …
(Use Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to locate “wp-content” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site was built using WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the focus of this article is to try and help non “techies”, however, below you will find a number of easier methods you can use to check if your web site is powered by WordPress other than searching the source code.
Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the logical thing to do, some website development agencies, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you have an existing website and you’re not sure what CMS application was used to build it, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your website if your website has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net late at night and you need to know if it was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme and the website theme templates have not been edited, you can typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown at the bottom of the site …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress – footer)
If the simple methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Is Built With WordPress
Here are a some tools that can tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
IsItWP.com
(Is It WP – WordPress Checking Tool)
Is It WP is a free tool that can check if a website runs on WordPress or not.
Using this tool is very simple. Just type in or paste in the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
The tool will go through the page code on the URL and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the web site is not powered by WordPress, you will get a message like the one shown in the screenshot below …
To use this tool, go here:
Advanced WP Theme Checker by Satori
(WordPress Theme Detector)
WordPress Theme Detector by Satori Studio is a free tool that can help determine whether or not a website uses WordPress as its CMS engine; it will also tell you which theme the site is using and provide a link to the theme’s official page.
To use this tool, paste the URL of a web page (it doesn’t have to be the home page) into the ‘Enter website URL’ field and click on the ‘What WordPress theme is that?’ button …
(Enter website URL and click the button)
The Theme Detector will automatically scan the website and output its theme information …
(WordPress Theme Detector displays theme results)
If a website is built with WordPress but the theme is too customized to contain any traces of its origins, the Detector will still let you know it’s a WP site by outputting a message on the right.
(Modified WordPress theme message)
If the website is not using WordPress at all, the tool will also let you know …
(This website is not WordPress)
You can try the Detector yourself by visiting this link:
Wappalyzer – Browser Add-On (Firefox / Chrome)
(Wappalyzer – Web Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome))
If you browse the net using either Firefox or Chrome and would like to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting have been built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful add-on to add to your browser.
Wappalyzer tells you what type of software is installed on the sites while you are browsing.
According to their website …
“Wappalyzer is a browser extension that uncovers the technologies used on websites. It detects content management systems, eCommerce platforms, web servers, JavaScript frameworks, analytics tools and many more.”
It’s also an easy to install and very easy to use browser add-on.
After installing the Wappalyzer extension on your browser, icons will appear in your web browser menu, in the URL field identifying which software is being used by the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon shows up on your browser menu (as the above screen shot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
Go here to visit the Wappalyzer add-on site:
SpyBar
(SpyBar – Browser Addon For WordPress)
SpyBar is a browser addon that lets you ‘reverse engineer’ any WordPress site you visit and see which WordPress plugins and themes are being used, right inside your web browser …
(SpyBar – Discover WordPress Plugins And Themes Used By Your Competitors)
SpyBar can be installed as a browser extension on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and is compatible with PC and Mac.
To download or learn more about SpyBar, go here:
Plugin Sniper
(Plugin Sniper – Find out what plugins a WordPress site is using)
Plugin Sniper lets you find out what plugins a WordPress site is using. This is a useful tool if you want to know what WordPress plugins are being used by your competitors.
Plugin Sniper is also a useful tool for researching what kinds of plugins businesses in certain niches are using …
(Search WordPress sites by categories and location)
To download or learn more about Plugin Sniper, visit the site below:
I hope that you have found this the information in this tutorial useful.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum